The Crooked Hinge

In John Dickson Carr's "The Crooked Hinge," a chilling inheritance dispute plunges Dr. Gideon Fell into one of his most perplexing cases. Sir John Farnleigh, long-banished black sheep of a wealthy English family, returns after decades to claim his rightful inheritance, having survived the Titanic disaster. However, his homecoming is swiftly complicated by the arrival of a second 'Sir John,' a man bearing seemingly undeniable proof of his own identity and claim to the estate. Before the truth can be disentangled, one of the claimants is murdered, setting the stage for an impossible crime. Dr. Fell, fortuitously in the village, must navigate a labyrinth of stolen identities, imposter claims, and the unsettling shadow of the occult, including whispers of witchcraft, magic, and a sinister automaton. This atmospheric and intricate puzzle, celebrated as one of the best locked-room mysteries, challenges Fell to confront bizarre phenomena to unmask a killer and unravel a seemingly unbreakable enigma.